Chapter 1
The hospital personnel were in a panic. The whole hospital was under stress and confusion. A man lay on a bed covered in blood. He screamed in horror, "It was a wild beast!"
He fell into shock.
Two hours passed, the hospital had returned to normal but the air was tense. The police came to investigate the incident. They couldn't make sense of the man's story, especially not the unexplained vicious bite marks on the man's legs and arms. The news spread like wildfire and it garnered the attention of Neil Redford.
He was a tall man with curly blonde hair and always wore a waistcoat, this time in blue. Neil is a biologist and expert in tracking invasive species. He walked through the hospital, his face expressionless as it almost always was. His blue eyes darted left and right, and he found the room quickly. He met up with Nurse Rachel, a woman with short brown hair and average height.
"So I assume that you're Neil Redford?"
Neil's face was expressionless as he extended his arm like a robot. Rachel felt an air of awkwardness and shook his hand, which lasted an uncomfortable amount of time. "Um... sir?"
Neil blinked a few times. "Oh, sorry. I usually do not stare people in the eyes, so I tend to look at one eye, the chin, nose, neck, or in this case, the forehead." He let go of her hand.
"Um... okay... anyway, here are the pictures."
"Is there any way I can talk or see the victim's wounds in person?"
"I'm afraid it is not possible. The man was shaken as is, and he's asleep now."
Neil nodded without blinking. He then took the pictures which Rachel gave him and analyzed the bite wounds. He studied them intently, scanning his eyes left, right, up, and down. He blinked only once. "What did the man say that he saw?"
Rachel paused before saying, "He was screaming and frightened at whatever it is he saw, but did not give accurate descriptions. He said he saw an animal, presumably a lynx, charge at him and bite. He had a knife in his hand and fended the animal off. All he recalls is long ears and it was pitch black."
Neil put his index and thumb on his chin and thought for a moment. "A lynx is impossible. They are shy creatures that rarely attack humans, and the bite wounds do not match. In fact, there is no North American animal capable of producing those bite wounds."
Rachel raised her eyebrows. "Could it be... a feral dog attack?"
Neil thought for a moment before he said, "I don't believe it. No, I think the man would know if it were a dog." He scratched his head. "Did the man test positive for rabies?"
Rachel shook her head.
"Was there a lodged tooth or hair found?"
"Only the blood from his knife. The lab is analyzing it, but I'm afraid it will take a few days before they fully know, and from what I've heard, it's puzzling them."
Neil put all the information together and said, "There is no way to know for sure, but I believe we are dealing with some sort of invasive species. But I'll need to visit a friend for help. Thank you for your time, Nurse Rachel." Neil turned and began to leave. Rachel stood there before she followed him. "Wait, shouldn't you ask for more people to help you?"
"There is no need. I can handle it with him just fine." Rachel didn't know how to feel about this strange man, but to her, he was reckless. "Wait... can I come with you?" Neil stopped, turned, and said, "I don't see why not." Rachel didn't know if she made the right call or not, but this mystery was too intriguing for her.
Chaper 2
They met the following day. Neil drove his car and wore a black and white waistcoat. Rachel was pondering her decision; on one hand, she had no business being here, but her curiosity always got the best of her.
"What's it like to work in the hospital?"
Rachel was surprised that Neil would be talkative. It took her a bit to answer, "Oh... well, it is usually stressful but I manage. I just wanted to help people and I was great in theory and in the practical field… I suppose that's a similar reason you track invasive species to protect the local wildlife?"
Neil nodded, "The damage may be reversible as early Europeans brought so many invasive species so they can feel more at home, and at the time, didn't know the damage this can cause. But even so, many centuries later, invasive species are still being introduced and we humans are to blame. The animals are just trying to survive."
Rachel smiled a bit - she liked his attitude but could do less with the weird expressionless face. Neil parked the car in front of a house near the woods. The gate was unlocked for them.
They walked inside, and Rachel saw a man. The lower half of his face was covered in red lipstick, and he had a plastic flower in his mouth like a pacifier. Rachel stared in shock, then a hummingbird came to the plastic flower and flew off. Rachel had realized it - there was honey in the plastic flower, and the lipstick's smell attracts the bird. The man was most likely trying to get a close look at the hummingbird's rapid flight.
"Oh, thank goodness. I thought you were insane," she said.
The man wiped the lipstick off and smiled. He shook hands with them. His name was Nathan Moore, an expert in everything animal. He was short, with a beer belly and half his hair was gray. He always wore shorts regardless of the season, and his legs were like chopsticks.
Neil and Rachel began to explain the situation to him and showed him the pictures. Nathan listened intently.
Rachel said, "So who do you believe the culprit is?"
Nathan leaned back and shrugged, "I have no clue."
'That was anticlimactic,' thought Rachel.
"However," Nathan continued, "It must be an invasive species as Neil suggested."
"Could it be maybe a cougar or a bear?" Rachel said.
"The bites don't match," said Neil.
Nathan drank some lemonade and said, "I'm willing to bet that the animal attacked the man because he entered its territory. The bites seem to be defensive. It could also mean that the animal felt scared and was fighting back. This eliminates suspects such as cougars and wolves. Brown bears are a possibility, but the wounds on the man do not match with wounds of bears. Plus, there are no claw marks, only bite marks which are unusual for a bear."
Rachel looked down and frowned, "So we have no leads on it?"
Nathan chuckled, "On the contrary, I believe the animal most definitely acted territorially. If we go to the place the man was attacked, there's, I'd say," he paused, looked up squinting his eye, tilting his head left to right, "about a 90 percent chance we'll find it. But we must act quickly and in fewer numbers as to not scare it. Do we know exactly where the man was attacked?"
"We do," said Rachel.
Chapter 3
They walked at nighttime. It was the exact time the man was attacked. The deep woods were like a maze, the trees were larger at night and almost resembled faces. The half moon was the only light source.
Rachel regretted her decision, but it was too late now. Two of them carried guns with sleeping darts, while Rachel carried a flare gun to scare off the animal if all went wrong. They walked slowly, Rachel looked at the back while Neil looked to the left and glanced in front. Nathan looked at the right and glanced in front as well. Rachel examined the two men. Neil was unreadable, his face looked like a rock. Nathan was covered in sweat.
"Are you sure this is the right call? It all seems reckless to me."
"Don't worry, we've been in more serious danger before," Neil said. "I swam with great whites in the open ocean, and Nathan was filming a show when half his nose was almost bitten off by a snake, and he continued describing it while bleeding profusely."
Rachel said to herself, 'I thought this was bravery, but no, this is simply recklessness.'
"Wait, where is Nathan?"
Neil raised his finger, "Shhh," he looked back and saw Nathan crouched down. They both crouched and slowly walked towards Nathan. Rachel whispered quietly, "What is it?" Nathan touched the ground and spoke quietly, "Pawprints... fresh."
Neil looked up and felt the cold wind hit. Nathan felt both hot and cold at the same time. Rachel was trembling. In front of them, there were glowing eyes.
An animal the size of a lynx walked. It had long ears and sniffed the ground, then went to a tree and urinated on it. The animal was familiar. "Is that..." Rachel thought she didn't know how else to describe it,
"...a rabbit?"
The animal noticed them and gave a low growl. Rachel stood up quickly, startled. "No!" Nathan yelled, the animal charged straight for them and stopped hissing. Nathan sprained his ankle trying to get up. The animal charged directly for Rachel.
She took the flare gun. Neil was behind her and grabbed her hand with his right and her shoulder with his left. He gripped her, forced her to stand in place, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"
"Hold your ground," he said calmly.
The animal charged, Rachel closed her eyes. Then the animal stopped halfway through and hissed, it was a bluff.
Nathan shot the dart. The animal turned toward him and hissed. Neil shot it too, the animal collapsed.
Neil threw the gun to the ground, "Idiot!" he grabbed his head, "God, I shouldn't have fired. This could be a lethal dose."
Nathan crawled to the animal, checking its pulse. "No... no... it's okay, it's fine,"
Neil sighed in relief. He turned to Rachel, who was frozen in fear. "Miss Rachel?" "H-huh, y-yeah, I'm here."
"I apologize for my actions. It just didn't seem like the animal would attack since there were multiple of us, and I thought the charge would be a bluff, though it was still stupid of me to do such a thing to you."
Rachel swallowed, "No, it's okay. Water under the bridge."
"No, I owe you for my actions."
"Guys, come look!" Nathan said. They walked to him and crouched. Nathan shined a flashlight. The fur was grayish and white. It had black spots similar to that of a leopard, but not as prominent on the body. The fur was soft, the face identical to that of a rabbit, the legs as well. However, they were built more for running rather than hopping.
"This is a very strange rabbit," said Rachel.
Neil scratched his head, "I've never seen anything like it."
"Do you have the pictures of the bite wounds with you?" Nathan said.
Rachel pulled them out of her bag. Nathan and Neil examined the bite marks, then Neil checked the teeth of the animal. They looked at the bite wounds once more before Nathan said, "Perfect match."
Chapter 4
The animal was transported to a lab. It was kept in a cage where it barely fit. Rachel, Nathan, and Neil were there and explained everything. Nathan looked at the animal and giggled like a child, "this is amazing, a brand-new mammal discovered right under our noses." Neil crossed his arms, "this animal makes no sense, it shouldn't exist."
"Ah, but it does, isn't it incredible, Neil? How can an animal the size of a lynx remain so elusive until now?" Nathan giggled more. Neil said, "that's the problem, it's an anomaly. If we haven't discovered it until now, then it must have been either endangered or very elusive. This animal was found not far from the city, this simply makes no sense."
Nathan drank lemonade and said, "it could be possible that it ventured off."
"No, nothing about this animal makes sense to me, it shouldn't be possible for it to exist."
Nathan chuckled. "But it is, there are plenty more of animals we've yet to discover and even bigger mammals were also as elusive as this one, for example, the saola. It wasn't discovered until 2010, and that is a much bigger animal than this one."
"That is true, but," Neil said, "the saola lives in the thick jungles of Vietnam. Much of that place is unexplored. In the United States, the vast majority of woods has been decimated, and even with the saola, its remains were first discovered in 1992. The saola does resemble deer, but this animal, while resembling a rabbit, is bigger than any rabbit living today. It would have been reported on, and giant rabbits were never a thing, not even in the colonialist days. This animal is aggressive and territorial. It would have been in conflict with humans most definitely, and judging from its teeth, it is a hypercarnivore. All animals, even carnivores, leave an impact on the environment, we would have known something about a mysterious predator, but this creature just popped into existence all of a sudden."
Nathan was annoyed, Neil's reasonings were correct, but Nathan was sure that it would all make sense in the end. Nathan would love to name this new species. He was already preparing to study it and write a book on it.
Rachel crouched near the cage but still kept her distance. She felt bad for the animal; it crouched down, breathed heavily, and its eyes became large, it was scared. She also saw a wound on its shoulder, most definitely a knife wound. Nathan and Neil crouched next to her to better look at the animal. "I told them to get a bigger enclosure, the animal can go into shock in this cage, it clearly is not used to humans," said Neil.
Nathan examined the animal, he wanted badly to stroke its fur, it was a majestic beast. "So, it looks like a rabbit, but what is it really? Can a rabbit even become a carnivore?" Rachel asked.
Nathan smiled, "it most definitely can," he said, "in prehistoric times, several animals that were herbivores became carnivores and vice versa. Did you know that all us land vertebrates share a common ancestor who was a carnivore? There is also the thylacoleo, a marsupial that is closely related to wombats, and it was first a herbivore, then it became a predator. This rabbit-like animal is so similar to it that it shows convergent evolution. Its teeth show that it was a herbivore that became predatory, as its sharp teeth are nothing like any other animal, and the thylacoleo had the strongest bite force of any terrestrial mammal ever. This animal also has a nasty bite, it clearly shows that it attacked the man only in self-defense. If it wanted him dead, oh my, his wounds would be a whole other level of horrific," Nathan explained.
He smiled wider and wider and giggled; he enjoyed explaining it all. Rachel was impressed by his knowledge, she felt like he was a walking encyclopedia. Nathan continued, "there was also once a carnivorous armadillo, when the dominent predators, like the terror birds and terrestrial crocs numbers were dwindling, the armadillo had a nice niche opening, so it became a carnivore."
"And that is the problem," Neil said. "This animal, if related to rabbits, can only become a predator if there was a niche opening, which there isn't. Cougars, bears, wolves, and lynxes dominate the ecosystem, and there can only be another predator if there is more food source, which there isn't."
"But maybe it is not a rabbit, just a look-alike?" Rachel asked. Nathan smiled, he sweated from excitement, rubbing his hands and breathing heavily, then said, "That is definitely possible. The mountain viscacha, also known as the sensei rabbit." He chuckled. Rachel found it cute.
"It looks identical to a rabbit but is related to the chinchilla."
Neil said. "It still makes no sense to me as to why we haven't discovered a clear apex predator until now." Nathan was slightly angry, he was ready not to hold back now, but they were interrupted by, "Gentlemen and Miss, there will be time for debates later."
It was Jack Watson, a short man with brown hair, a large chin, and an expressionless face that rivals Neil Redford. Jack is the chief of multiple biotech companies, and there is a rumor that he enjoys experimenting on animals, but he always denies that. Jack came first on the scene, he is a philanthropist as well, delving into anything that can make him a large profit. He clapped his hands.
"DNA testing confirms with the hospital."
"Well, don't keep us in suspense," Rachel smiled nervously.
Jack said, "The team stated that it is not like anything that they've ever seen, but it bears DNA evidence with... the rabbit."
There was silence and confusion. There was now no explanation on how this animal could even exist. Jack adjusted his necktie with both hands and brushed his suit.
"Well—" his assistant put a phone near him and struggled to say anything. Jack ignored him. "Well, I think that this concludes our business. We will call in the" his assistant still put the phone near Jack's face. "Better professionals to take a look at it. John, do you not have any idea of personal space?"
"Sorry, sir, but they say it's important," Jack sighed and was annoyed. He grabbed the phone.
"Yes... uh huh... are you drunk or high?... Okay, I guess you're just an idiot," he pinched the bridge of his nose. "If you're wrong, I'm gonna lay off an entire department." He hung up.
"What is this about?" Rachel asked.
"Someone says they found a bizarre animal off the coast of Florida, most likely a hoax trying to cash in on the discovery of that rabbit thing. God, I hate how news spreads quickly in this country," he began to walk away.
"Wait!" Nathan said. "Take us with you."
"Absolutely not. I need real professionals, not some hobbyists and a nurse. Do not share anything that you've learned, or we'll sue. Good night," he turned his back and walked.
"Charming guy," Rachel said sarcastically and frowned, hand on hip.
"We have to get on a plane with them somehow, we'll never make it in time!" Nathan was frantically nervous.
"What if it is a hoax or just mistaken identity?" Rachel said.
"We can't take the chance, you never know." Nathan wiped his sweat, he turned to Neil who said, "Don't worry, I have a plan."
Chapter 5
"Help! Help! Oh, please help!" Neil ran, panting, in front of him, three employees of Jack's. "What is going on?" a woman said. "Oh, the pipes burst, the leakage is everywhere!"
"We'll call someone; we need to get on a flight," the man said.
"No, wait, there's someone stuck there," Neil led them to the door. One employee started to open it. "No, wait!"
"Huh?"
Neil took out raincoats. "It might be best to take off your uniforms and wear these; you have no idea how messy it is in there."
"We don't have time for-" the woman interrupted the man. "You know how Jack demands uniforms, yet there's always barely any remaining. I think we should not risk messing them up, I can't stand that idiots voice." He sighed and agreed, they took the raincoats, and left their uniforms on the floor. As they entered, they saw that the room was clean. "Is this some sort of joke?" the man said. Neil shut the door and locked it.
"That was so silly, yet somehow it worked," said Rachel. The door pounded. "We must hurry," said Nathan. They quickly put on the uniforms, Rachel tried to tuck Neil's curly hair into a cap so he isn't noticed. Nathan said, "How I hate pants," as he put on the pants over his shorts.
They hurried and made it to the flight in time. Inside, there were many employees wearing the same uniform. The three of them hung their heads low, trying not to arouse suspicion. Rachel's heart thudded in her chest. There was chatting on all fronts, but the sound of her heartbeat was the loudest to her.
She looked over at the faces of Nathan and Neil. Nathan was smiling and squeezing his hands in excitement, Neil stared straight and was expressionless, 'Why do I keep getting myself into such trouble these last few days?' she said to herself.
Rachel always enjoyed staring through the window when she traveled, even on airplanes, the blue sky and white clouds never bored her. But in pitch black, there was nothing to see.
Rachel looked down and was nervous; she couldn't comprehend how calm Neil and Nathan were. Are they crazy? She knew the answer to that question.
The flight lasted 3 hours and 52 minutes. Once they landed, they exited slowly, still trying not to arouse suspicion. However, Nathan went quickly ahead, Rachel and Neil were behind and walked slowly. They saw a mass of people in front, looking bewildered. They slowly pushed in front and saw on the docks down in front of them, a long creature 2 meters long, fins and an orange beak filled with strange teeth.
Nathan quickly went forward, "This is a penguin."
It wasn't a normal penguin, with its 4 fins, black upper body, and being white on the stomach and down. There were no feet and no feathers. Nathan crouched next to it, the animal was entangled in fishing nets.
Jack Watson had spotten Nathan, and soon he saw Neil and Rachel. "What are you people doing here?"
"Well, sir, pardon our intrusion but... at least you got experts right on the scene," Rachel smiled awkwardly. The other staff members looked at her. Jack pinched the bridge of his nose, "You people are worse than the climate change activists."
"Don't worry, I volunteer for free to work on these animals and tell you anything I discover," Nathan smiled widely. Jack was frustrated at the whole situation, "Fine, I'll let you stick around as long as you don't be a thorn in my side, but you'll be staying at the lab no more of this Indiana Jones crap," his phone rang, he answered it, "and you locked 3 of my employees," he rolled his eyes.
The penguin-like animal was transported back to the base. Rachel, Neil, and Nathan were under strict supervision. The rabbit-like animal roamed in a larger enclosure, and the other animal swam in a decently sized tank.
The three looked at it, how it swam so fast. "This is an amazing creature, look at its two fins down," Nathan said, Rachel looked at the fins, "Those were once feet, and you can see little claws sticking out. This is similar to manatees as they have toenails on their front flippers," Nathan said.
"I never saw a bird with teeth before," Rachel said, Nathan cackled, "True, but these are different teeth, they're pseudoteeth, little sharp spires from the beak that look like teeth. All birds had teeth before they evolved beaks. This is so they could fly better, as teeth add extra weight. But some birds evolved these teeth a few million years ago. There were the pseudotoothed birds. They had teeth just like our fellow here, though they looked more like albatrosses and needed those teeth for gripping slippery fish. And fun fact, albatrosses are penguins' closest living relatives," he giggled excitedly as he explained.
"But this isn't a penguin," Neil said.
Nathan frowned slightly, "Well, we'll see what genetic evidence says."
They waited for hours as the team analyzed the blood. Finally, Jack Watson came down the stairs adjusting his tie, "What do they say?" Rachel asked.
"Once again, they said it's unlike anything they've seen, but it most likely matches that... of an Adele penguin."
Nathan scratched his head while Neil said, "There is something seriously wrong happening."
"There is nothing wrong here," Nathan was irritated. "These are simply animals that have never been discovered before!"
"Think rationally, Nathan," Neil said, "How could this possibly be a penguin? No penguin that ever existed was adapted to live a fully marine life, and why would a penguin be found in the northern hemisphere when they only reside in the south?"
Nathan was sweating and frustrated. Jack crossed his arms, "Then what do you propose is the explanation?"
"Portals."
"P-pardon?" Jack was in shock. Everyone stared at Neil dumbfounded, but Neil was unfazed.
"A-are you certain?" Rachel said.
Neil nodded. "It is the only explanation, there is a rift in space that is causing the future world to interact with our present."
"Neil...that theory is outlandish!" Nathan said in shock.
"It is the only explanation I can think of. Finding two animals so different than anything we have in such a short span of time is absurd. The carnivorous rabbit I can accept if it were found in an ecosystem that could sustain it, say in Asia. But the penguin is beyond logic. An animal like that, for it to exist, would have to originate in Antarctica and the continent would have to melt, forcing the penguin to evolve to become fully aquatic. It sharing DNA with the Adelie penguin makes sense, being small it is less of a target for large predators and needs less food, giving it the needs to become fully aquatic," Neil explained.
The others stared. Jack, who needed time to recover from this, for the first time in years had experienced this level of insanity said, "If you think this is true, then we'll need to find the source. As of now, it's only a theory." Jack walked to his staff. "And try not to do anything stupid, you people are beyond crazy."
"So...what now?" Rachel turned to Neil and Nathan.
"I'll keep an eye on the animals," Nathan said, while Neil said, "I suppose we'll just have to wait for the next anomaly."
"You think there will be more?" Rachel asked worryingly.
"I always prepare for the worst-case scenario."
Chapter 6
For the next 3 days, it was quiet as the lab analyzed the strange animal's behavior. Nathan noted that it wasn't too different from other animals. Nathan argued that if the animals came from a different time, then they shouldn't be able to breathe in our oxygen well or at least would have been sick, ill-equipped to deal with our times, diseases, parasites, etc.
No one really took Neil's theory seriously; however, the man was adamant. He called in Rachel to meet her but did not specify why. She was on edge; what had Neil had in store?
To her surprise, he took her to a movie theater. They were the only two people in the room. "It is nice to have a theater all to yourself. I'm blessed to have a friend who works here so we can watch. I personally prefer thrillers and have Play Misty for me playing, though there are other options if you like."
Rachel didn't know how to respond before she snapped back to reality. "Eh... no, this is quite alright."
The theater was old, and the red seats almost turned to black. "So... why did you bring me here?"
"In a way to apologize for my reckless actions in the woods. It's the least I could do. Popcorn?"
"Um... no thank you." Never had she met anyone who was so awkward yet so casual about it.
"If you don't mind," she said, "but how do you really think those animals... came from another world?"
Neil ate some popcorn and said, "The genetic evidence confirms it and after all these animals must be from the future. Once a mass extinction happens, the animals at the top of the food chain become extinct first because they mastered their environment; they're sensitive to even the slightest changes, so the little guys take their place once the niche has been left vacant. The best example of this was with the extinction of the dinosaurs. Dinosaurs filled up every land niche after the Triassic, and every mammal was the size of a rat. Once the dinosaurs went extinct, mammals took their place and diversified." He drank some orange juice.
Rachel said, "But what could be causing these animals to come to our time, and how far from the future are they?"
Neil shrugged, "I only have theories; we don't have concrete evidence for why they're here, but them being here will shatter so many preconceptions we had of time, space, and our universe. As for how far into the future the animals are…hmmm... since they can live in our time well, I assume their Earth is not too different from ours in many ways, so I assume they're from...between 1-10 million years into the future."
A dark thought occurred to Rachel. "So... would humanity be extinct by that time?"
"It's hard to say; to me, there are 3 factors that could cause the 6th mass extinction
Nuclear war Super volcano A meteor; all these can cripple the human race, but I believe humanity would still be alive for millions of years to come, though we would definitely look different." The phone rang. Rachel answered it. "Hello?" She heard loud breathing and a low cackle she recognized as being Nathan. "Come quick!"
"Nathan, what's wrong?" Rachel panicked.
"A new animal is in the woods, they say it's freaky. Oh," he giggled, "we must see it now!" He giggled some more and hung up. Rachel stared dumbfounded before turning to Neil. "Is he always like this?"
"Afraid so."
Chapter 7
Nathan, Neil, and Rachel were seated in the back of a car, an armored man was at the driver's seat. It was getting dark. In the woods, several other armed men spread out in search of the creature. "What does it look like? Come on, I must know," Nathan squealed.
"It's an abomination according to the woman who saw it, she said... that it was an alien," the armored man said.
Nathan was sweating, he desperately wanted to see it in person. "Calm down, Nathan. It would be best that we show up after they captured it," Rachel said.
"What if they kill it?" Nathan was nervous. "Oh God, oh God, what could it be? I think we got something so special."
Neil was sat in the middle of them. In a way, both Nathan and Rachel acted like the devil and angel on his shoulder. Though he stared in front of the car without moving a muscle and expressionless the entire time, inside he wanted to get out and make sure the animal isn't badly harmed. But he knew that he would get in the way and Jack can tolerate them for so long.
Neil got startled, there were gunshots and lights flashing.
"Those fools!" Nathan ran out of the car.
"Hey!" the driver yelled, but Nathan was nearly out of sight, he dashed through the woods like he was at the end of a marathon. Neil and Rachel instinctively got out. They hurried after Nathan. In front of them they heard screams and yelling. Once they got there, they saw a huge shape two meters tall with a massive head and tentacles.
It towered over everyone. It moved unnaturally, not like anything of Earth. It headed straight for the armed men.
Then collapsed.
Everyone was silent and didn't move. Nathan took a large stick, crouched, and slowly approached it one step at a time. He poked it with the stick. It made a squishy noise. It did not move. The others shined a light on it.
It appeared to be an octopus.
Its colors were still slightly changing, they went red then blue. The animal was identical to an octopus. However, a look at the tentacles showed that there were no suction cups. The tentacles were strong, robust, perfect for walking on land permanently.
Nathan approached the animal closely, he stuck his hand inside to find its beak. Once he located it, he was amazed. "What is it?" asked Rachel.
"Look at its beak, it's large, thick, so much stronger than any other octopus, yet it has no sharp end, it's flat," everyone looked at it closely. Nathan smiled, "This is most likely used for eating fruit," he chuckled. Then slammed his fist into the ground. "And you idiots had to shoot it!?"
"Hey, chill man, we didn't fire a single bullet."
The medical team arrived and together with them, Rachel analyzed the deceased creature. She concluded that "it died of a disease. It wasn't equipped to deal with basic diseases, it must've struggled for an hour then passed, it's a miracle it even lasted this long."
Nathan was shocked.
"This creature was put on here, but it couldn't have just appeared out of nowhere," Neil said.
Rachel asked. "So this animal clearly is from a future even further from the other two, but how far?"
Neil scratched his head, "It's impossible to predict, but I assume... about 100 million years into the future."
Most stared in terror and many gasped, they were bewildered and dumbfounded even chills running through their spine, some had to take a short walk to calm their rapid heartbeats. One of the armed men said, "Your whole science mumbo jumbo is torture to listen to when I have to be near that thing and breathe its shitty smell, God, it hasn't even been dead for that long."
Neil's eyes widened, he looked in front and there was a sewage system near the river 15 meters away. He ran to it. "Neil-" Rachel ran towards him. Neil sprinted to the sewer, quickly got in. Rachel and Nathan were close, and Jack's men were there as well.
As they all entered, they saw Neil standing in front, he adjusted his necktie on his blue waistcoat, he was staring at a blue light in the sewer, a shape of a rectangle.
"W-what... could it be?" said Rachel.
They stared at it in awe and horror.
"T-this... Dear God," Nathan was speechless.
Rachel slowly walked, moving slowly. "Neil..." She froze when the rectangular shape blinked a few times and the piercing blue light lessened.
"So this is," Neil said. "This... portal... is sending future creatures here... but why?"
"Neil... I... we must stay back from that," Rachel said.
"No... this could be our only chance, when will we get this lucky again?"
"Neil, please don't do anything silly," Rachel pleaded.
"Sir, she's right, come back," the team leader said.
Neil turned to look at them, "I'm sorry, I have to see it for myself." He ran straight through it.
The others only stared, horrified. Rachel hesitated to go for Neil, she walked forwards, Nathan grabbed her arms. "Rachel, don't."
"We can't just leave him there, what if he got injured or attacked?"
"There's nothing we can do but wait."
They waited and waited.
Five minutes had passed and the rectangular shape started blinking rapidly, and it began to dissolve. "No, Neil!" Rachel yelled but was pulled back by the team's leader. As the blue faded, a black shadow emerged and a body collapsed.
The team rushed over.
They hesitantly touched the body; it was Neil. They pulled him up and saw his face. Neil was pale. He gripped his stomach with both arms, crawled into a ball, hung his head low, and shivered.
"Neil...dear God, Neil, what happened...what did you see?" Rachel was terrified.
Nathan said, "Okay, okay, people, let's get him out of this sewer." They grabbed Neil and dragged him out.
"Give him room," Nathan said.
Neil lay on the grass, he looked at Rachel.
She crouched near him, she saw Neil's eyes; they were red.
Was he crying?
Neil put his hand forward, touched Rachel's cheek, quickly let go, and looked away.
Nathan gave Neil a water bottle. "N-no...it's okay," Neil said weakly.
"Neil...what did you see?"
Neil looked at Nathan and said, "Nothing...there was nothing...but...blue...it didn't let me pass...there was...something...that prevented me. This is just...a side effect."
"Let's not pry anymore; this man needs a hospital." The team leader said.
They dragged the corpse of the dead creature, and they put Neil in the ambulance. Rachel was in the ambulance with him. She examined him.
She knew he was lying.
He must have suffered shock and also vomited. She checked his heart rate; it was high but slowly calming down. Physically, he was fine. When the driver and the doctor were making a call inside the ambulance, Rachel leaned towards Neil. She whispered, "Neil...what did you see in there, really?"
He looked at her, closed his eyes, gripped his hands and put them to his chest. Finally, he opened his eyes, faced Rachel, and said, "You would never believe me."
Chapter 8
Two months had passed. There were plenty of reports of strange animals, but none were true. The media was fanatical and many scientists and researchers came to check on the two animals. Several debates were started. The animals were studied 24/7, their DNA analyzed, agian and again to make sure there were no mistakes. Their behavior was also studied. Nathan and Rachel stood above their enclosures.
Jack Watson went down the stairs and approached them. "Well, this ended nicely. No more of the portal nonsense, everything back to normal. The media adores the two odeties of nature. Oh, and I'm publishing my book on this matter. I'll have you two and the blonde guy credited in the acknowledgment section which no one ever reads," he began to leave.
"Wait," Rachel said. "Have you heard of Neil?" Jack stopped and turned around. "I know exactly where he is, but it's pointless. He's gone mad."
"We're his friends. We'll decide if he is sane or not," said Nathan.
Jack shrugged and gave them the address.
They drove there right away.
Neil had moved to a cabin far away from human contact. As they approached the front door, Rachel knocked softly. There was no answer. She knocked harder. Behind the door, Neil stared through the peephole. He looked down, breathed heavily through his nostrils, and opened the door slowly.
"Neil... dear god," Rachel put a hand over her mouth. Neil wore a black shirt covered in sweat. His hair was over his shoulders and greasy. His beard was large and bushy. He had massive eye bags. His eyes were bloodshot. He was skinny, lost 30 kilos.
Neil struggled to stand.
Nathan came to him and gently led him to the couch. The place was filthy and smelly. Every window, every door was barricaded. There were several machine guns, pistols, knives, grenades, bulletproof armor all over the cabin. Hundreds of papers were scattered across the floors and tables, numbers, formulas, many papers torn, thrown in the bin, scrambled with a red marker.
Rachel crouched next to Neil. "What did you see, Neil... please tell us," he looked away. "There is no point in telling you. You'll just say I'm mad."
"Listen," Nathan said. "We didn't believe your portal theory, but you were right about it. We trust you, Neil. Please tell us. You have to get this... whatever it is off your chest." He looked at Rachel, and she gave Neil a reassuring nod.
Neil leaned back on his couch and said, "I'll tell you the best that I can on what I saw when I went through that portal. What I've seen was absurd, horrific, devoid of anything we've known, and I'm not sure if I was dreaming or awake."
Rachel and Nathan sat across from Neil and listened.
"As I stepped through the rectangular shape, I closed my eyes as the blue light was piercing, even with my eyelids sealed I still saw only blue. There was a wind that rushed through my hair, it was strong and the further I tried to go, the harder it was to move until the wind stopped blowing in my face. It then blew on my back and I accelerated my march forward. It was so strong that there was no feasible way I could have turned back. I was pushed through the rectangular shape and nearly lost my footing. I turned back, saw it was there and that I was standing on red dust, it looked like sand.
I crouched, took a handful. It was made of material not of Earth, at least none that I could recognize. It felt just like sand but it wasn't, it had a different smell almost like pepper. I let the material to the ground and it escaped my hand easily, not a crumb was left. I looked at my shoes and realized that unlike sand, it does not stick to any material. I walked slightly behind the portal and saw that I was on a hill and in the distance of 5 kilometers, there stood massive black structures, almost identical to pyramids, there were 5 of them.
At this point, I wondered how I could breathe with no trouble in this world, it looked nothing like Earth, it resembled Mars more. As I looked up, I saw that the sky was an orange reddish color."
Neil stopped and moved on the couch, "if you could just...some water."
Nathan went to get water and brought it to Neil, "take your time please," Rachel said.
Neil drank half the glass quickly and put it on the table. He stared down, closed his eyes, his lips moved, he thought of what happened exactly, remembering the whole event, careful not to miss a single detail. He opened his eyes and faced Nathan and Rachel. "I will tell you what happened, what I saw, what I...talked to."
Nathan and Rachel were tensed, 'what he talked to? What did you see, Neil?' Rachel thought.
Neil spoke, "to my best memory, I will recite this...encounter...standing there admiring and being shaken by the structures, I felt something watching me, it made the hairs at the back of my neck raise. I turned around slowly and there I saw it...a shape in the sky, it flew. Its body was about 2 meters in length, it had 4 set of wings that flapped at the speed of a hummingbird. The wings were on the back and in a shape different to anything alive or extinct on Earth. There were many tentacles, I didn't count but...I assume between 15-20, they were all located on the stomach of its human-like body. It looked just like a human but lacking nipples and a belly button. The head looked that of a bug, its eyes were black and insect-like, but I did not notice any lenses. Its skin was fleshy like that of a bird, it was grayish-pink. It had no mouth.
I was disturbed when I saw this. I looked at the portal and saw that I could perhaps make it if I ran quickly enough, but I didn't know how to handle the situation, this...creature was unlike anything that ever existed on Earth, how could I know that it was curious about me or if threatened by me or if I entered its territory."
Neil spoke in a panic but quickly calmed down, "I just stood there, it was in the air, it did nothing but watch me, and I decided not to move unless its movements showed hostility. The creature then suddenly exposed its human-like throat, it enlarged it like that of a frog and it growled. My body tensed up and it flew at me, its tentacles moving rapidly, it flew right next to the portal, blocking my path, and it went straight at me at an insane speed. I was out of my depth, I could only scream. I had no time to think of anything before the creature stopped.
It went up in the air, its throat moved up and down becoming enlarged, then becoming smaller, it changed colors, flashed red, orange, yellow slightly, then there vein-like lines bulging from its head, they disappeared as quickly as they appeared, then the creature made noise. I heard my own screams, it mimicked me, then what happened next shook me to my very core, it began to perform speech, it was gibberish but slowly I could make out the words, the voice sounded like animal growls at first, but slowly became more...human. The words became perfect English, and it was my voice, it was my voice, dear God! An almost perfect replica, but even though it spoke in my voice, there was something...unnatural about it. It sounded human, but at the same time it wasn't human."
Nathan and Rachel stared, mortified, they shook. Nathan even looked at the window and behind himself, his head shook. Rachel leaned back, she felt a strong chill. Neil held his hands, "I'll tell you what we talked...I remember almost everything it said. The first words it said were 'your language is simpler than we first thought.'"
I didn't know what I felt at that point. It was all dream-like. I responded with, "What... are you?"
"We are everything, the master of the universe, to put it bluntly."
"So... you're sentient?" It then mimicked a laugh. It was dark, like a monster's laugh, before transitioning into the laugh of a mad man, until it was a simple plain human chuckle. "No, no. We are not sentient. It is weakness."
"What?"
"You see, with sentience, there is a disgusting term called 'I.'"
It spoke with hatred. My voice, which it mimicked for a second, turned into an unknown accent. "I is a weakness to a species. With it, one feels that they can accomplish things on their own, that they are better than others. With you humans, that was the fatal flaw. In a mere 5 years, Mars could have begun terraforming. Five years after your moon landing, if every human worked together. But you were divided into countries, counties, cities, villages, etc. When you met our ancestors, you never stood a chance. Of all our battles, you were among the easiest to conquer."
"W-wait, I have too many questions. Who are you? What... are you? Where is this planet? How can I breathe here? A-and..." It laughed, perfectly replicating my laugh. "Look, my dear traveler," its tentacle pointed to the weak portal. "But, do not fret. I will answer you this. Humanity is 50 million years extinct, and we, like our ancestors, continue their work of transforming every living being how we see fit. With what you would call a god-like level of science. But now we have gone further. You see, there were trillions, if not much more, of universes and life that existed before us. We invented technology that will shape every single moment in time to our will. We will transform it all. Do not worry, though, you will not meet us or our ancestors. You will pass away long before that. But I might give you one final treat, a sweet memory for your travels." I struggled to comprehend it. So much informaton, too much information. I struggled so much to comprehend. I looked up and saw the creature's throat bulging. It made an incomprehensible sound, totally alien. Its tentacles moved in a wavy motion. And something approached.
"This has 1 percent of human DNA, so you could say it's your relative."
It was quadrupedal, with hooves, an elongated face, no teeth, a long tongue. It was green, with a hunched back. Its face was hideous, with a permanent grin. The creature looked up at the flying creature and opened its mouth. The flying thing on its bottom came a fleshy tube and put it inside the quadruped. What looked like... feces ran straight into the mouth.
I vomited.
Twice or three times, it just kept coming out of me. My knees were weak, and I was panting. Out of terrified curiosity, I looked at the scene again. The creature spoke, "What a good boy you are." This disturbed me the most.
It said in my voice, as it had been talking the entire time, but my voice when I was 8, when I was talking to my "You're such a good boy, Stanley. Good doggy."
I ran to the portal, didn't dare look back. Sounds of laughter were heard in human voices I didn't recognize. It laughed in one voice before going to another, then another, then it combined the laughter of all the voices. It stopped when I reached the piercing blue."
There was silence for the longest moment. Nathan and Rachel were left in horror and disgust. No one knew what to do before Rachel stood up. "N-Neil... we... just, we need to get out of this. I-I don't know, dammit," she cried. "I don't know what to do, but... let's just leave this cabin. Please come with us, Neil."
Neil stood up weakly. "You're right. There's nothing we can do. I just...I couldn't. I don't know when I last slept. I'm just so scared," he cried. Nathan hugged him. "Come, w-we... we should just go." The three of them exited the cabin and went to the car and drove off.
They drove in silence.
Neil looked up at the sky. It was almost dark.